We "Mayde" it to May!

Many allusions have been made recently to The Wizard of Oz, due to the large number of destructive tornadoes that ripped through Tennessee (and four other states) last Wednesday.  Many people have lost their homes and even their loved ones; our house wasn't touched at all, yet a minute away our co-worker's house is practically in ruins.  There is no rhyme or reason in determining why some houses were hit and others weren't; I just know that God is in control and is showing his awesome power more and more.  In the words of one faithful man this week:  "You better get ready, Jesus is coming!"

Perhaps he is very right.

On another note, my triathlon is two weeks from today.  Jennifer and I did a trial on Friday after school; swam the whole race length, biked almost the whole race, then ran the 5K.  We were certainly fatigued, but we were both surprised that we didn't quite feel as "dead" as we anticipated.  It was very encouraging; however, I have had a swollen lymph node pop up under my chin.  I had the school nurse check it out, and she told me not to see a doctor unless it worsened.  She also told me to just "rest" to be on the safe side.  I went on with the tri-trial (and worked my hiney off yesterday around the house).  Then I confessed these things to my mother, who freaked out completely: "What if you have mono?  That was the worst thing you could do!  If you're spleen ruptures, you could die!"  Well, fortunately I didn't die.  The node is still swollen but not quite as bad as it was on Friday.  I am praying it is nothing; if for some reason I do have mono, then that only brings bad news.  I don't even want to think about it.

It makes me wonder if it's not another condition, though; after training so hard for this triathlon, I've lost no weight.  Zero.  My body hasn't changed a bit.  To be honest, the only reason I signed up to do this tri is because I thought it would help me lose weight, yet NOTHING has happened.  It makes no sense.  I am also losing hair like crazy.  Handfuls of it come out in the shower.  Sounds like an underactive thyroid, but I was just tested last summer.  It's pretty miserable and discouraging to work so hard and not see any results. 

Three weeks of school left; we will all rejoice when it's officially summer!